Learning with Lena

Tu Tangata, Issue 16, 1 March 1984, Page 24

Learning with Lena

Member of the Order of the British Empire, Mrs Lena Manuel, regards herself as a mouthpiece for her people.

At a special investiture held at Taihoa Marae, Wairoa, she accepted the medal as an acknowledgement of the work the Maori community has done as a whole.

Lena was brought up by her grandparents, Teni Te Waho and Peta Pakuku, on the Te Poho-o-Tiakiwai Marae, Wairoa.

She was born in the marae kitchen in 1915 and she is now 68 years old.

Her marae and that of her mother, Te Poho-O-Te Kawiti are now unused and have been taken over by nearby Taihoa.

Lena couldn’t speak English when she attended school because of her upbringing on the marae.

Her grandparents wanted her to be a school teacher believing teachers knew everything.

“My grandfather was an expert on whakapapa and an uncle of Sir Turi Carroll. I owe him a lot. He also taught me who I am and I can tell if someone is giving a false whakapapa, but he said it was not really the place of women to delve deeply into whakapapa.”

Lena says her grandparents spoiled her. They would not let her wash clothes, do household chores or even cook.

She was the young and tender shoot to be nurtured in knowledge.

She remembers, while at school her grandfather would row her across the river to go to school.

“It was quicker to go over the river than to walk to school. I never used to swim either and still don’t. Calabashes were used as floaters, so I never had to learn.”

Lena attended two colleges, Wairoa District High School, for two years and Hukarere Maori Girls College.

Memories that Lena holds of Hukarere were, she never used to do any ironing and she never sat down for her meals.

“Uncle Rangi Mitchell was a service car driver for the Hawkes Bay Motor Company. He used to bring goodies to the school. That’s how my ironing was done. He would take my clothes to Wairoa and bring them back ironed.”

Lena never sat for meals because she was too talkative. The punishment for talking too much was standing while you eat.

At 16, she passed matriculation. Something rare among Maori women at that time.

Teachers Training Colleges were closed during the depression so Lena worked for relatives, Sydney Carroll and Dick MacGregor, in the Maori Agents and Interpreters Office. While there, she gained her interpreters licence and is the only woman in the district that holds one. In 1936, at 21 years old she lived her grandparents dream and became a junior teaching assistant at Ruatahuna, the heart of the Urewera. Two years later she moved to Te Araroa and met her husband, Robert (Rob) Manuel. He was the quiet and supportive type and helped Lena throughout her career. They shifted to Wairoa in 1947 and took over the family farm. Besides Lena there were four other members in the family. Sisters, Maku and Teni were running the farm when Bob and Lena took over, and Ivy, the eldest of the family. Her only brother, Matthew, was killed in Greece, in the Maori Battalion’s first World War action. Lena and sister, Teni are the only surviving members of the family. In Wairoa she carried on her teaching career at Wairoa Primary and North Clyde Schools and in 1954 joined the Department of Maori Affairs as a Welfare Officer. Before joining the department she was already involved in “Maori Affairs”. She was the Secretary of the Kahungunu Tribal Executive and in all the years on the executive she has worked under only two Chairmen, Sir Turi Carroll and Mr Tom Ormond. Her Department job included help with housing, job seeking, social work and court information. “I was a Welfare Officer, and with a lot of Maori children it helped to know

the workings of their schools.” Lena has three children of her own. The eldest, Wheti, manages the family farm called Ohuia, Rangi is the Director at the Wairoa department of Social Welfare and Hine is a Department of Maori Affairs Community Officer. In October 1979, Lena’s husband died. Lena said she would never have succeeded in her community work, if it had not been for the help of people like her husband who helped free her time so she wasn’t tied up with household matters. Her warmth, cheery disposition combined with her charm, inspire the community around her. Lena is a member of many committees, the Wairoa College Board of Govenors, Hawkes Bay Hospital Board and Kahungunu Maori Executive, to name but a few. Logically, she is also involved with the Maori Women’s Welfare League. She was a founding member and first Secretary of the Kahungunu District Council in 1951, now, she represents the full Tairawhiti area. “I am lucky to do these things and lucky I’m healthy,” she said. She is also a New Zealand representative on the National Historic Places Trust. Her heavy load consists of marae committees all over the Wairoa District and about five Maori land incorporation management committees. When Lena has no meetings to go to, she likes to play housie. She jokingly says, “Most widows go to housie, that must be why I go, because I’m a widow.” She enjoys housie as relaxation and feels there is a closer kinship amongst those who play. To the Wairoa people Lena is a leader, organiser, advisor confidant and educator.